Gravity of Love
by Tuna Salad Sonnet
Summary: Modern Day AU: Aang is a pretty ordinary guy, other than the fact that his best friend has a scar over his eye and he has prophetic dreams. Chapter 3: Meng meets her volunteer partner Teo, but the evening doesn't end as she expected. -DEAD-
1. Cast of Characters

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

_**This is the cast of characters. If you want to actually read the story, go to the next chapter.**_

* * *

**: T E C H N I C A L : S T U F F :**

_**Intro: **_This is going to be my first multi-chaptered fic in a long time, and the last one I wrote wasn't that great anyway, so don't get too thrilled about this thing. But I do have this mostly planned out, and I hope it'll be good. The title comes from the awesome song "Gravity of Love" by Enigma. Go download it if you haven't already and give it a listen! Basically the whole story came to me one day while listening to it.

This whole sheet is a basic cast of the characters who appear in Gravity of Love. I'll update every time a new character appears. If you don't want to be spoilered in any way, skip ahead and read.

_**Ships: **_Alright, I apologize for anyone who will spear me for this but the ships are Taang, Zutara, Tylueokka (Ty Lee/Yue/Sokka love triangle), Meo (Meng/Teo), and possibly some Jai (Jet/Mai).

_**Warnings: **_The first couple of chapters will be all fine and dandy, but it gets darker after that. The worst things mentioned are murders and an attempted sexual abuse later on, but there's bound to be some mild language here and there. I'll warn you every chapter.

_**AU: **_This takes place in a modern-day city. People can still bend the elements, however. There are "gangs" of benders and non-bender from all over the place. The conflict ranges from friendly competition to unwanted rivalry.

The plot is based on the first 2 seasons, and since season 3 is coming out soon, I'm probably going to hit a lot of road blocks. The only thing that's season 3 related is that Aang has hair and no arrow tattoo on his forehead.

_**Format: **_Every chapter is told from 1 of the 10 main characters point of view. So Chapter 1 will be marked Aang because it's told from his point of view. The 10 main characters are: Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Toph, Jet, Mai, Ty Lee, Meng, and Teo. I also break up scenes by showing a date, so don't get too confused.

**: N O R T H E R N : R E G I O N :**

_(aka The Air Nomads)_

**_--- Gangs  
_**

**_The Lemurs: the only airbending gang in the city. All of them are benders, and overall, the friendliest gang in the city. Aang is their unofficial leader._**

**_---_**_** The Gyatso Residence**_

**Aang: **15 years old. An orphan, who was adopted by a doctor named Gyatso when he was a little boy. He has two pets: Appa, a dog, and Momo, a cat. He tends to have prophetic dreams and is also best friends with Zuko, after a mysterious incident bonded them together two years ago. He is the only one who can crack Zuko's hard shell. He has many friends around the city.

**Gyatso: **Aang's adoptive father. (_He is mentioned in the story, but does not appear._)

**Appa: **Aang's pet dog. He communicates with Aang by barking, and Aang seems to understand him perfectly. Aang sometimes calls him yip-yip.

**Momo: **Aang's pet cat.

_**--- The Omashu Fish Market**_

**Ying Pass: **Mother of Hope and owner of a stall in the Omashu Fish Market. Aang suggested the name "Hope" to her when she was pregnant. (_Their family name is a reference to Serpent's Pass, the episode where they are introduced by name._)

**Hope Pass: **3 years old. Daughter of Ying. Aang suggested her name to her mother before she was born.

**Bumi: **14 years old. A crazy friend of Aang's. He works in the fish market.

**: E A S T E R N : R E G I O N :**

_(aka The Earth Kingdom)_

**_--- Gangs _**

**_The Kyoshi Warriors: an all-female gang of non-benders who dance with fans. Named after a mysterious historical figure the founder, Suki, was curious about._**

**_------ Members_**

**Suki: **Leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. She knew Zuko pretty well when he was leader of the Red Tails, but have since drifted apart.

**Meng: **14 years old. She is living with her aunt for the summer and has a crush on Aang. Young member of the Kyoshi Warriors.

**Song: **A member of the Kyoshi Warriors. Shy and polite, she has a small crush on Zuko, but she might find somebody more her style.

**_---_**_** The Bei Fong Residence**_

**Toph Bei Fong: **15 years old. A mysterious girl who keeps to herself, but is anything but quiet. She tends to do things her parent's wouldn't approve of when they aren't looking…

**: W E S T E R N : R E G I O N :**

_(aka The Fire Nation)_

**_--- Gangs and Companies_**

**_The Red Tails: a gang of benders and non-benders from all over the Western Region. Zuko used to be their leader, but he gave up the partying life after recieving his scar two years ago. They have held a grudge on him ever since._**

**_The Dai Le Corporation: the company that supplies the city with medical care. It's inner-workings are a mystery, but it's headed by Ozai, Zuko and Azula's father. _**

**_---_**_** The Jasmine Dragon**_

**Zuko: **19 years old. Aang's best friend after an accident pulled them together two years ago. He is dating Jin and works for his uncle at his cafe. When something is bothering him, he'll shut everyone out, except Aang.

**Iroh: **Zuko's uncle and owner of the Jasmine Dragon, his café. He cares deeply for his nephew, but isn't as close to him as Aang is.

**Jin: **Zuko's girlfriend. She had a crush on him for a long time, much to Zuko's surprise. She finally asked him out one night and they've been dating ever since. _(She is mentioned in the story, but never appears)_

**_--- Others_**

**Azula: **17 years old. Zuko's younger sister, whom he's never gotten along with. She was once a nice, innocent girl, but has recently become cold and calculating. Is she planning something...?

**Teo: **15 years old. A boy who must walk with crutches since birth. Originally lived in the North, where he met Aang and became good friends with him. Son of a brilliant mechanist.

**: S O U T H E R N : R E G I O N :**

_(aka The Water Tribes)_

**_--- Gangs  
_**

**_The Water Lillies: an all-female gang of waterbenders that was founded after many girls were tired of sexism put against them._**

**_------ Members  
_**

**Katara: **17 years old. A kind, but stubborn waterbender. She is expected to become the new leader of the Water Lillies. She works at a pharmacy.

_More to come…_


	2. Miss Bei Fong

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

**_Warnings: _**Very mild swearing

* * *

He wasn't sure where he was exactly, but walking is always a good place to start. 

Aang was almost sure he was dreaming, because he had never been anywhere so rocky and misty before in the city. But, no, this was too real to be a dream. Normally, stones feel like ice cream and mist like cotton candy...and...wait a minute, what's that pink up ahead?

He stopped next to where the rocks piled up a slope. He somehow knew that a plateau waited for him up in the mist. Meng stood next to the slope, in beautiful pink robes.

"Meng, what are you doing here?" he asked.

Meng shrugged and grinned. "Waiting."

"Waiting for who?"

"You."

"Ah." Aang nodded and waited.

Meng only continued smiling.

"So...what now that I'm here?" He asked.

"You climb," she stated simply.

He craned his head back: it was a long climb.

"Oh."

"Say hello to my boyfriend," she said.

He looked at her with perked brown eyebrows. "Boyfriend? You have a boyfriend?"

Meng frowned in confusion. "Oh, well, not yet I guess." She grinned again. "But I will. You'll like him."

Aang nodded slowly. "Okay."

And he started climbing.

The climb certainly looked long, but he didn't much remember it. He got to the top of the plateau where the mist curled across the top. A man stood with his hands in his pockets just across the way. He was wearing a blood red jacket, tie, pants, and shoes. The only thing that he wore that wasn't the strikingly bright red shade was his collared shirt, which was snowy white.

Aang squinted at him suspiciously. The bright colours looked out of place with the beige stones.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Roku."

"Alright, but who-"

"You do not know _what_ I am. Yet. I'm not, however, Meng's boyfriend."

The teenager nodded slowly. Roku chuckled.

"But I am here to tell you that you will meet a girl today. You must watch her movements closely and practice what she does. If you do not, you will not be able to save her later."

"Save her?"

Roku nodded. "One day, she will be in grave danger. And you must save her."

Aang made sure he memorized this, when a tongue licked him across the face.

He spluttered and coughed and shouted, "Appa!" The shaggy dog only continued licking him and wagging his tail.

"Appa, get off!" Aang shouted, and tried to roll out from under his dog's grip, only to end up falling off the bed onto the floor.

_**Gravity of Love**_

_**Chapter 1: Miss Bei Fong**_

_**Aang**_

_July 3__rd__, 11:33 am._

Several minutes later, Aang had brushed his teeth, dressed, checked that his hair was a reasonable amount of scruffy, and eaten. He picked up his skateboard and walked to the front door, Appa tailing nervously behind him. Aang smiled at the dog.

"Don't worry buddy. I'll be sure to find Momo today," he said.

Appa barked in reply.

Aang furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh, come on, that dumpster was a good lead-"

The dog growled slightly, then barked again.

"Yes, I came home smelling like-"

Appa gave a final yelp.

"Oh fine, but you're not getting any tuna from _me _tonight!" Aang grinned at his furry companion and ruffled the thick fur on top of his dog's head. Then, he turned, opened the door, and mounted his trusty board as he skated down the steps and off down the sidewalk.

Momo, his cat, had gone missing when he didn't reappear after being let out at night last week. Aang had panicked briefly, before his adoptive father, Gyatso, had told him that Momo couldn't have gone far, and knowing cats, he'd probably head to the largest and nearest source of fish he could find.

"The Omashu Fish Market," Aang noted aloud to himself.

The wooden stalls filled with baskets of trout, halibut, salmon, minnows, and all sorts of other fish lined the narrow, unpaved street. The Northern Region of the City was more or less famous for these rustic, dusty roads. Pavement and cars still zoomed around parts of this region, but not nearly as much as the rest of the City.

"Aang!" A woman's voice called to him from behind a stall.

He turned, and grinned. "Miss Ying! How are things?"

The mother gave him a half-smile. "They're alright. Hope's been a little hyperactive lately." She leaned over the counter a little so she could whisper to him conspiratorially. "She has an imaginary friend now."

Aang couldn't help smiling, amused. "Really?"

Hope's mother nodded. "Yes. She's been wondering when you'd come by so she could show you. I don't suppose you've had any luck finding Momo?"

The teenager shook his head. "No," he said, "he couldn't have gone far, though right?"

"Aang!" He heard his name being called for the second time that day, and he looked down at his feet. The three-year-old Hope grinned up at him.

"Hey, there, Hope!" He crouched down and lifted her in his arms, tucking his skateboard under his elbow. She giggled and ruffled his short brown hair.

"I hear you have an imaginary friend?" Aang asked her.

She nodded. "Uh-huh. Her name's Foo Foo."

"Foo Foo, eh?" Aang asked, setting her down.

She nodded, again, grinning. "Come on!" She took his hand in her tiny one, and started walking away. "You gotta meet her!"

Aang looked back at Ying who waved as Hope dragged him off. "Good luck finding Momo, Aang! Don't give up hope!"

"You're gonna give me up?" Hope asked him, looking over her shoulder.

The airbender boy laughed. "No Hope. It's a figure of speech."

"Oh. What's that?" The little girl asked.

"Uh…" Aang struggled to explain what a 'figure of speech' was when he settled with, "You'll understand when you're older."

Hope turned and continued marching. "'Kay."

She turned into a small alleyway a couple of stalls down from her mother. Wooden barrels stamped with the words, "Property of the Pass Family" stood in the shade. Hope let go of Aang's hand and started to search in the narrow spaces between the barrels. "Foo Foo!" she called. "Foo Foo Cuddlypoops!"

Aang had to stuff his hand into his mouth to prevent Hope hearing his laughter. "Wow, Hope, what a…great name."

She turned to him again, eyes bright. "You think so?"

"AANG!" a voice shouted in the said teenager's ear, causing him to jump forward involuntarily and crash into one of the wooden barrels. Hope gave a little shriek as the barrel broke into pieces and a load of slimy, silvery fish spilt all over her much older friend.

Aang spat on the ground, trying to get the horrible taste out of his mouth. "Ugh…" he muttered, wiping his eyes and peering upward to see who had nearly given him a heart-attack.

"Bumi?!" Aang asked in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here, Aang," he stated simply, grinning at him from underneath a mop of brown hair.

"Yeah, but…but, was yelling in my ear really that necessary?"

"It was if you wanted to find _him_," Bumi replied, pointing at two large black ears emerging from the pile of fish.

"Foo Foo!" Hope shouted. She ran forwards and scooped a very slimy cat with a fish in its mouth out of the pile at Aang's feet.

Aang recognized the cat immediately. It was Momo! How Bumi knew he was hiding inside a barrel and not outside them would forever remain a mystery to him.

Suddenly, the three children heard a series of low growls from down the alley. They stared into the shadows, and Bumi pulled Hope behind him. "Hope…give Aang the kitty, he'll take care of it."

She nodded slowly, Momo was in his arms, and Aang was suddenly airbending a gust that propelled him away from the Fish Market because a whole pack of hungry dogs were chasing him.

This was _exactly _how he wanted to spend his day.

He wasn't sure how many people he slammed into and eventually lost count of how many things flew into his face. Eventually, although most of his attention was focused on the group of yapping dogs on his heels, continuing on in a forward direction, and keeping Momo from stabbing him with cat claws, he noticed that there was more and more pavement everywhere. He had left the Northern Region behind, and he'd be lost for sure if he didn't stop and figure out where he was soon.

Soon, Aang learned, wasn't going to be in the next couple of minutes as he had hoped.

_July 3__rd__, 12:01 pm._

"Hang on Momo!" Aang yelled as he veered off the sidewalk onto the grass. This was his last chance. He'd been trying to loose these dogs for at least ten minutes, and unless one of his earthbending friends was in this park, he was doomed.

Aang swerved through the trees as Momo turned and hissed and the angry dogs. A huge stone wall loomed over them, and he was skating towards it. _That's strange, _Aang thought for a second, _parks don't usually have big walls in them, do they?_

It didn't matter, it offered a distraction. Air swooped up underneath his board and carried him up and over the wall. He landed softly in a bush and quickly realized there were three things wrong with his situation: 1 – the wall was not just a pointless wall, it enclosed someone's yard; 2 – a girl was standing with her back to him and he'd be dragged off to the police if she turned around; 3 – he had landed in a rose bush.

Aang's mind quickly sorted out that he shouldn't try bolting, because the thorns in the bush were pricking his clothes, and if he tried she'd hear them rip. _Okay, if I can't run away, what __can__ I do? _he thought.

He observed his surroundings. He was in a finely groomed yard: all the grass cut, hedges trimmed, yadda yadda yadda… _I feel bad for the guy who has to take care of all this, _he reflected.

Across the yard, the girl remained with his back to him. She must've been one of the wealthy people who owned the house, due to her fancy sundress and long earrings. She had her hair up and two black high heels were sitting off to her side. She was standing in the middle of a garden path made of gravel, apparently staring at the ground. Curious, Aang continued to watch her.

She moved her right leg. She set it slightly behind her, then dragged her right foot slowly, slowly through the gravel. Then, _**boom!, **_she kneed the air with her right leg, bringing up a small blunt boulder right in front of her. She stomped the ground once, the boulder melted back into the yard, and she did the same thing with her left leg.

Aang watched her for a long time. One foot back, slow drag, sudden knee jab, boulder, one stomp, again. He watched her do it so much that he didn't realize Momo had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

"_I am here to tell you that you will meet a girl today. You must watch her movements closely and practice what she does. If you do not, you will not be able to save her later."_

_"Save her?"_

_"One day, she will be in grave danger. And you must save her."_

The words from the dream came back to Aang like he was suddenly on that plateau again. "You will meet a girl today," he repeated quietly.

Immediately, the girl glared in his direction. Aang jumped. _How the heck did she-_

"Hey! I know you've been watching me this whole time!" she shouted. "Are you gonna get out of my mom's rosebush, or am I gonna hafta drag you out?"

Suffice to say, Aang jumped up immediately, promptly forming a gash down the side of his shirt. "Y-Yes ma'am!" He covered the rip with one hand as she stomped over.

"You can 'yes ma'am' all you want, Fancy Dancer, but that's not getting you out of the rosebush any faster is it?" She said.

Aang tripped as he struggled out, landing in a heap by her feet. Momo woke up and looked around blearily. "F-Fancy Dancer?"

She stomped the ground. Aang felt something hit his chest from underneath and he was suddenly flying through the air. He landed uneasily on his feet and nearly collapsed to the ground again.

"Mind explaining what you're doing in my garden?" she asked smoothly.

Aang looked down slightly. She was just a little shorter then him, and looked about the same age. A black bang concealing one eye from him, but it's twin was a very pale green-grey.

"You're blind?" He couldn't help saying. "So that explains why you didn't-"

She growled. "Don't even say it, Fancy Dancer! You think just because you're an airbender means you make _no vibrations _when you land in _my friggin' garden?!"_

Aang blinked. "N-no vibrations? What-?"

"Don't make me ask you again! What-are-you-doing-in-the-garden-of-Toph-Bei-Fong?" She punctuated each of her words by jabbing Aang in the chest.

There was a long pause, where Aang's brain forgot how to talk. He let his knees collapse and he clasped his hands together in prayer-like pose. He could only hope the truth would get him out of this mess. Toph, meanwhile, couldn't help a little surprise leaking onto her face.

"Please Miss Bei Fong! I was looking for my cat and when I found him we got chased by dogs and I couldn't get them to go away and we ended up in your garden and now I have no idea which way I should go to get home! Please have mercy on my soul!" He blurted.

Toph had to wait for the whole story to register before she could properly respond. Finally she smiled and started to laugh. "You're pretty stupid, Fancy Dancer," she said. She grabbed his clasped hands and pulled him up with one pull. "Were did you find your cat?" She sniffed the air. "From the smell of it, you found him in a fish market."

Aang nodded. "Yeah, I, uh, found in the Omashu Fish Market."

Toph nodded. "Omashu, eh? The family chef say that's the best one in town." She led him over to a gate in the wall and opened it. "I've never been there myself, but I've heard her mention that she takes Iguana Street to get there."

"Iguana Street," he repeated.

"Yuh huh. Now get outta my house." She shoved him out of the yard and shut the gate with a snap.

He looked back, where she had turned around and was walking towards her shoes. "Uh, Toph? Thanks."

She turned around and glared through sightless eyes. "_Miss Bei Fong _to you." But he swore she saw her smile.

He smiled, turned around and skated out between the trees to look for any signs reading Iguana Street.

_July 3__rd__, 2:28 pm._

As soon as Aang unlocked the door to his home, Momo leapt off his shoulder to go find Appa and, presumably, tell him of his days eating fish and being spoiled rotten by Hope. Aang went upstairs to wash the smell of raw fish off his skin.

About ten minutes later, he settled on the couch and started flipping channels. Appa walked up and put his chin on Aang's clean non-fish-smelling pants. He scratched his dog behind the ear and said, "I guess I've been spoiled being around you, yip-yip. Those other dogs today were horrible!"

The phone rang. Aang leaned over and tried to reach the receiver, sitting on a table next to the couch. Too lazy to get up and walk over, he missed the call. He sighed, not nearly sad, and said to no one, "Oops. Too bad."

He heard the answering machine turn on and beep. A very familiar voice came out of the phone. "Hello, Aang. This is Iroh. I'm calling about my nephew, Zuko. He's been quiet more so than usual and well," Aang flinched as he heard what sounded like a tea pot smashing in the background, "I can't get him to talk to me. I think it has something to do with Jin, but I'm not sure. I know you'll be the only one to crack his shell, Aang. Come by as soon as you can. Good bye."

The machine beeped again and Aang sighed and turned to Appa. "Great, first I get chased by crazed dogs, get kicked out of my 'dream girl's' house, and now I have to deal with a cranky best friend." He got up and walked to the front door again, slipping on his shoes, and grabbing his skateboard.

Appa climbed onto the couch and barked.

"Yeah, yeah, you get to watch TV. Nothing's on during the day anyway," Aang responded and set out the door for the second time.

* * *

**AN. **Some notes for you! 

1) Each chapter is marked with the character that it focuses on. 2) Yes, the city is just called The City. I couldn't think of anything. 3) The barrels being marked "Pass Family" is a reference to Serpent's Pass, the episode title where Hope is born. 4) I use dates as a scene separator. It's not really important that you guys know what time and day everything happens, but it is for me. 5) Aang calls Appa yip-yip as a nickname.

And yes, this will be going in a Taang direction. But it'll take a while.

This chapter dedicated to: **defy destiny, **for giving my first ever Avatar review on my drabble Amazment. :D


	3. The Waterbender

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

**_Warnings: _**Little tiny bit of violence at the end, but nothing serious.

* * *

_**Gravity of Love**_

_**Chapter 2: The Waterbender**_

_**Zuko**_

_July 3__rd__, 2:43 pm._

If there were any people stupid enough to try sitting at the rooftop tables in this heat, they would've darted back down upon seeing the dark young man leaning over the railing.

'Dark' not just in the fact that his hair was a dark brown, but 'dark' in…just dark.

Zuko was not a person to be bothered by the heat of the sun. He was a firebender, drawing in the heat and amplifying it. He told himself he was practicing, but Zuko had had no need to practice firebending for two years. Two years he had had the scar. He had been seventeen when it happened. He supposed-

"Zuzu!" a familiar voice called.

He turned and gave an icy glare. Aang's waving hand immediately crumpled and fell to his side. Zuko turned back to the city below him, but noticed that Aang winced as he came within range of Zuko's own amplified heat wave to stand beside him at the railing.

"Sorry, Zuko," he said.

Growl.

"So, uh…what's up?"

"Uncle called you here," he stated. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Was he glad his uncle had called Aang? Zuko himself would've never done it.

"Yeah. Something about Jin?"

Zuko glared at a skyscraper, trying to melt the glass windows despite the long distance.

"I'm not going to have to guess, am I? You hate it when I guess," Aang said.

The older teenager turned from the cityscape and leaned his back against the railing. "We broke up."

"Wha… whu… why…?"

"I don't know, Aang!" he said, exasperated. He flung himself at the nearest café table, planting his face on the cold metal.

"Zuko!" Aang called. The airbender sighed. He walked up next to the table and attempted to wrench his friend's face up from the table. "Come on, Zuko, there has to be a reason. She couldn't have just said, 'Gee Zuko. You just stopped being awesome today. I think I'll break up with you.'"

His best friend lifted his head and gave him a withering look.

Aang stared. "Oh God, she didn't _actually _say that did she?"

"No, Aang, you idiot!" Zuko stood up and started to pace around the rooftop, throwing his hands in the air. "She said that I wasn't 'open enough'. That I didn't tell her everything or something like that."

"What? That's ridiculous! What _wouldn't_ you tell her, then?" The younger asked.

Zuko turned. "Nothing! I told her about everything."

Aang raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "Really?"

"Yes, even about my stuffed turtle when I was a kid."

He got a slight chuckle and grin in response. "Oh yeah, I remember Uncle Iroh talking about that. What was its name? Quackers or something? Something to do with ducks."

"Yeah, it was Quackers. I wonder whatever happened to it..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You _actually_ told her about Quackers the Turtle?"

Zuko nodded and started pacing again. "We were talking about when we were kids. I told her everything, like how I've never gotten along with Azula, and all sorts of stuff. I told her everything. But…" He paused.

"What?" Aang asked. "'But' what?"

The other turned, and looked at him sadly from his left eye.

Aang looked a little shocked. "The scar."

Zuko sighed again and returned to the railing. There was a long pause before Aang joined his side and another once he had.

"Zuko, I'm-"

"Don't-"

"-sorry."

"-say it."

They looked at each other. Aang looked like a little kid caught in the act of trouble-making, not really knowing where to look other than at his shoes.

Zuko sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day, although it was the first time a little ash came out with his breath. "Aang, how many times have I had to tell you not to be sorry?"

"I know that, but…I was there…"

"So? I was there too, we were all there. It doesn't make it anymore your fault than it was mine. It was nobody's fault, it was an accident."

"I know it was an accident, but if you hadn't run in after me-"

"We _all _ran in Aang. All four of us. If we hadn't, more people would've died that night. And _if _I hadn't run in, you…"

The boy looked at him with wide grey eyes. _Four years, _Zuko thought. _Four years younger. He could be my brother._

"…you'd be dead."

"But-"

"What happened happened, Aang. Leave it."

Aang stared out at the city, grey eyes clouded with sorrow.

"Hey, you're supposed to be the cheery one in this outfit aren't you? You know I'm no good at cheering people up," Zuko said to him, trying a smile.

"Yeah, you usually end up torching them one way or another," Aang responded, instantly grinning.

Zuko soured. "You didn't need to be that harsh."

Casting a sideway glance at his friend, he noticed something. "Hey, what's that?" He poked Aang's skin behind his left ear. Aang immediately flinched and jumped away.

"Don't touch my ear!"

"Why? You're not ticklish are you?" Zuko asked teasingly, immediately trying to land another poke. Aang, being an airbender, was too fast for him though.

"NO! It's a tattoo, alright?" Aang shouted back.

Zuko blinked. "A tattoo? Does Gyatso know about it?" He asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Of course Gyatso knows! He was the one who told me to get it in the first place!" The younger explained.

"Well, come here, let me see what it is then," Zuko said, and when Aang hesitated, "I won't poke you."

Aang stepped closer and tilted his head so the sunlight hit it. It was a pale blue arrow, curving around his earlobe and pointed up towards the sky.

"Appropriate," Zuko commented. "It fits you."

"Great, now that I have your approval, we need to concentrate on getting you to a party!" Aang threw one arm around Zuko's shoulders and pointed triumphantly into the air.

He had to blink. Once he had digested the sudden change in topic Zuko asked, "A party? For what?"

"To cheer you up, buddy!"

"Aang, I work at night, remember? And besides, I gave up going into the underground parties after I became friends with you."

Aang held his chin in one hand briefly. "That's the one thing I never understood about you, Zuko. The parties are fun!"

"The parties are dangerous!" Zuko retorted.

"Oh, _come on!"_ the younger whined. Before Zuko could point out what a poor come back this was, Aang slammed his fist onto a table. "Wait a minute! I'll call Meng! She hangs out with good people; she'd know somewhere we could go. Plus, she knows a lot of available girls…" Aang raised his eyebrows at his (now single) friend.

"Girls…" Zuko couldn't help bringing a hand to his forehead in frustration. "Aang. _I-have-work._"

When he opened his eyes, Aang was leaning down into the stairwell that led to the indoor portion of the café. "Uncle Iroh!" he called.

"Yes, Aang?" Iroh appeared at the bottom of the stairs, holding a large teapot.

"Can Zuko have the night off work?"

"Aang!" Zuko uttered, horrified. "I can't take work off to _party!_"

"Actually," Iroh butted in, "I think it would be good for you to take the day off."

"_Uncle!_"

"Well, fine, nephew. If you want to work today, then start now," the owner of the café said, handing the teapot to him. He added in a whisper, "There are some lovely ladies at table six for you to wait on."

Zuko's gold gaze shifted from Iroh to Aang and back again, both of them grinning toothily at him.

"I hate you both _so _much," was all he said as he descended the stairs.

"I'll drop by at eight!" Aang called after him.

_July 3__rd__, 8:30 pm._

"You said eight."

"Eight, eight-thirty, what's the difference?"

"Half-an-hour."

"Yeah, well…Okay, that's true."

"Where are you going?"

"Down Puffin Way. Why?"

"I thought we were going to the Red Tail place?"

"_What?_ No, no, no, no, no! They pretty much hate you now, remember?"

"Well…" Zuko stared at the sidewalk. "Yeah, I know. It's just…then, where are we going?"

Aang grinned. "You'll see!"

A few minutes later, Zuko stared in horror at the entrance to the club. Aang stood next to him quite a distance from the abandoned and boarded up subway entrance that was flashing with lights and sound. Teenagers from all over the city were sneaking in through a gap in the boards and checking their clothes. Most of them had dark hair and wore blue over their dark skin.

Waterbenders. Aang had brought him into the Southern Region.

"Aang, _you're an idiot,_" he muttered.

"It wasn't me!" Aang whined. "Meng told me to come! The Kyoshi Warriors are gonna be here. It's a Water Lily party."

"Wait a minute," Zuko rubbed his temple. "It's been a while with this whole gang thing. The Kyoshi Warriors and the Water Lily's are friends?"

The boy blinked at him. "Yeah! Practically ever since the Water Lilies formed! They _are_ the only two all-girl gangs in the City."

Zuko was about to protest, but decided that as little people as possible would need to know about his little sister's group of friends.

He currently realized that Aang was dragging him by his wrist towards the boards. "You do have your hood up right?"

"Aang, this is stupid! If they find out I'm a firebender-"

"They're not gonna find out," Aang rolled his eyes and waved the air.

Safe to say, they two gained a lot of stares as Aang pulled Zuko through the wooden planks, down the stairs and into the rundown subway station. The elder glared at his companion, who only grinned and ran a hand through his brown hair.

Zuko followed along as Aang pushed his way through the crowds, looking for Meng. He spotted Suki, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors talking to other members of her gang by the wall. Meng was not among them.

He had known her well when he had been leader of the Red Tails, and thought about waving, but realized he had to remain below the radar. Zuko remembered he had once asked her about the name she had chosen for the group of girls who danced with fans on the floor.

"I found it in my business textbook in high school," she had said. "Some lawyer or something that was mentioned in the history of the City. Said she made a lot of changes, but it never said what kind of changes. So I always wondered, who was she?"

Aang suddenly shook his arm. "There she is!" He shouted over the music, pointing into the crowd at girl far out into the flashing lights, her back to them. Zuko squinted. He couldn't make out much of what she looked like, except she had long hair tied back in a braid.

"_That's _Meng? She grew her hair out?" Zuko shouted back.

"No! That's Song!"

"Song? Who's Song?"

"The girl Meng set…" Aang drifted off, looking sheepish.

"_Aang…_" Zuko started dangerously.

"Okay, okay, Meng set you up on a date with a girl from the Warriors! I tried to tell her not to-"

"No you didn't."

Aang winced, but continued. "Look, just please talk to her Zuko! She's really nice, and shy! She wouldn't hurt a fly!"

Zuko had a sudden urge to burn the city dump and its population of flies. But he relented and sighed. "Alright, but what about you?" He asked.

"I'm gonna ask Suki where Meng is. I'll come find you," Aang said, standing on his toes to see where the gang leader was standing.

"Alright, meet by the exit if we get separated." Zuko added. Aang raised his hand and straightened his back in mock salute, then sailed over the heads of the crowd with a current of air.

Zuko took a deep breath, made sure his hood hid his scar and moved out onto the dance floor towards the girl.

Finally standing behind her, he wasn't sure how to begin. "Uh…"

She turned and blinked curiously up into his hooded face.

Blue eyes. She had blue eyes.

Aang had set him up with a waterbender.

She smiled awkwardly. "Hi…"

Zuko reached up and ruffled his hair awkwardly, making sure not to pull back his hood too much. "Sorry, my friend sort of sent me over here," he explained above the music.

She raised an eyebrow.

"No, I mean, we thought you were someone else, and it wasn't even my idea, and…" He sighed. "I'm not good at this am I?"

She laughed and shook her head. "Do you wanna get off the dance floor? We're get bumped around if we stay here any longer."

It took a while for him to process this. "Uh, what?"

She grabbed the sleeve of his hoody and pulled him off into the crowd. "I'll explain! Come on!"

_July 3__rd__, 8:57 pm._

"So, let me get this straight."

"'Kay."

"You were at a party, and your friends dared you to go over and talk to some guy you had never met?"

"Yeah. And he was hanging out with these really bad, thug looking kids. I said the stupidest things in my life in that conversation."

"So, you're 'taking pity on me' because that guy did the same thing to you?"

The girl grinned and nodded. "Pretty much."

Zuko allowed a smirk to spread across his lips. "Thanks a lot," he said sarcastically, nudging her with his foot.

The girl had dragged him into an abandoned stairwell, thick with cobwebs and dust. He sat a couple of stairs up from her and on the right side, she on the opposite side. They had gotten talking about all sorts of things, and so far, she hadn't noticed the scar.

She was nice. Not exactly shy, but polite enough to sit and listen, a little like Ji-

Clunk. Zuko purposefully hit his temple against the side of the stairwell. _Stop thinking about her, idiot._

"What's up?" the waterbender asked.

He glanced her way. _Should I tell her? _he thought. _Can't hurt right?_

"You know how I said my friend had sent me over to you?"

"Yeah? You said you thought I was someone else?"

"Yeah. I haven't been to one of these parties…for a while now. The only reason Aang brought me here was because I broke up with my girlfriend."

The waterbender immediately took on a sympathetic look. He wondered if it was genuine.

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "Not your fault. Actually, I think it was mine."

"'You think?'"

He smirked. "Yeah, the only reason my girlfriend gave was 'I wasn't open enough'."

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What does _that _mean?"

Zuko opened his mouth to say something when Aang appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Zuko, there you are!" A girl with a long brown braid and brown eyes followed him in.

"Zuko?" The waterbender mulled. "I've heard that name before…"

He glanced at her, about to assure her she hadn't, when the other brunette spoke up. "Hi, I'm Song. We've been looking for you everywhere!"

The two looked down at her. The waterbender stood up uncertainly. "Oh, but I don't even know you."

Song blushed and looked at the ground. "Oh, well, I didn't mean you, exactly… Zuko and I…we were…supposed to dance…" She looked up at him, then cast a glance at the darker skinned girl. "Not that you can't come of course."

"Wait," said the blue-eyed girl, who rubbed her forehead as Zuko stood up behind her. "I'm confused. You," she pointed at Zuko, "were supposed to dance with her," she pointed to Song, who blushed again, but nodded.

"Yeah," Aang came in. "I sent him over to her on the dance floor, but I guess something got messed up."

"Oh, no, you sent him over to _me _by accident. You must've got our braids mixed up," the waterbender said, pointing to her own braid.

"Oh!" Song and Aang said in unison. Song started to ascend the stairs, holding her hand out to shake with Katara. "You already know my name, what's yours?"

Zuko starting heading down the stairs, when two things happened at once.

He heard the blue-eyed girl say, "I'm Katara." They started walking down the stairs beside him while Aang awaited them. But Zuko noticed something about his friend.

His face was contorting strangely. All the dust and cobwebs in the stairwell was going to make him-

"_**Ah…Ah…AH-CHOOOOO!"**_

A huge burst of air exploded in the small stairwell. Zuko was coughing so hard that he barely noticed Katara's small gasp of horror. "I know who you are," she whispered.

He realized that his hood had been blown back. Everything moved in slow motion.

"You're Zuko," he looked up to see her staring blankly, blue eyes wide, "The Red Tail leader, Zuko."

Song's eyes widened behind Katara's shoulder. He tried to speak but it only came out as a cough. "No, I'm really not…" He coughed again, and hit his chest with a fist. To his dismay, a small lick of flame came out of his mouth.

"_Firebender!" _Song was shouting. Another second and it felt like they were just outside a vacuum: all the dust zoomed out of the stairwell into the subway station where the others were partying. Someone in a yellow jacket grabbed his arm and was dragging him out of the room.

The room was full of dust, people were crouched over to protect their eyes and faces, and Aang dragged him through it all. Occasionally, some brave soul raised their head and shouted, "Zuko!" or "Red Tail!" or "Firebender!" furiously. Chunks of rock flew towards them but missed.

As the dust settled slightly, Aang started swerving to avoid the many things flying through the air. Zuko remembered later that he had no idea where the people had found such things: shards of ice, glass, more chunks of rock, maybe even an electric cable at one point.

He remembered clearly feeling terrible that he couldn't help Aang more, but having only one good eye made him a little susceptible to dust. Suddenly, he stopped moving and Aang was gone.

"Aang!" he shouted, squinting into the dusty air.

"_Zuko!" _came Aang's desperate voice. He swirled around and saw somebody with long black hair dragging him by the ankle across the floor. He leapt across the distance separating them and let a burst of fire scorch the air. The person dropped him. Zuko hooked his arm under Aang's arms and they started running.

Somehow they got outside. Zuko didn't stop. He ran into an alleyway and leaned against the cold bricks.

The two boys panted, Zuko staring up into the star-dotted sky, Aang sitting on the ground inspecting his ankle.

"I told you… the parties… were dangerous…"

Aang was about to say something when they heard someone jogging toward them. Zuko shuffled further into the alleyway so he was cloaked by shadows. Aang tried to do the same, but the person had spotted him.

It was Katara, the waterbender, with a plastic bottle in hand.

Zuko emerged from the shadows holding two daggers of flame in his hands. "I swear if you lead the others here-"

"Calm down," she responded. She pushed some hair from her sweaty forehead. "I'm not gonna rat you out. I came to check if _he _was alright," she said, pointing to Aang.

The airbender pointed to himself curiously, but Katara had already kneeled down to look at his bruised ankle. "Hmm," she said, unscrewing the bottle cap. She passed her hand gently over the bottle and the water within flowed out. She let it settle over her skin as it glowed softly.

The boys watched, intrigued, as she massaged Aang's ankle, whose face twisted in pain slightly, but sighed in relief when she finished.

She smiled at him. "Better?"

"Yeah!" Aang said, smiling widely. Zuko grabbed his shoulder and helped him stand up. "How did you do that?"

She grinned humbly. "I work at a pharmacy. And, well, I've had a lot of practice on my brother."

"Your brother gets into a lot of fights?" Zuko asked quietly. The other two looked at him inquisitively.

Katara nodded.

"Tell him it's dangerous," he continued.

She gazed wonderingly into his face, her eyes resting on the scar made from a huge burn.

"Zuko?" Aang asked.

He turned down the alleyway, towards home. "Let's go Aang."

Behind him, Katara turned the way she had came and said, "I'll see you guys some other time?"

"Sure thing," Aang said, smiling and waving. He jogged to catch back up with his friend and the two walked through the maze of alleyways back home.

"Need any help walking?" Zuko asked.

"No, I'll be okay, thanks to her."

The other nodded in response. A couple of minutes passed before Aang attempted conversation.

"…So, she was nice."

"Shut up Aang."

* * *

**AN. **1) Yes, Zuko's stuffed turtle had a duck name. Why? The turtleducks in _Zuko Alone. _2) That coversation about "running in" and "all four of us" is a hint at how Zuko got his scar in this universe. It's weird to write those scenes, where the characters know what happened, so they _could _talk about it all, but I can't give it all away. 3) No, I don't know how a bunch of teenagers would sneak into an abandoned subway station. 

Tell me if there were any grammar or spelling issues with this one. I'm too tired to go over it really closely, and I did run it through the good ol' spell check before submitting it. :)

_Edit: _Oh, and I forgot to put this earlier, but if you're confused about any of the gangs mentioned here, look at the Cast of Characters!

This chapter dedicated to: **Tefnut Talvi**, for giving me my first review on this story. :D


	4. Adventures in Summer Volunteering

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

_**Warnings: **_Something...but I can't say or I'll spoil it. XD _  
_

* * *

_ It really isn't an appropriate thing to call someone about,_ one voice in her mind pointed out. 

_I know it's not emergency, but friends listen to each others problems, right?_ the opposing voice argued back.

_But you don't want to be just friends with him. He doesn't like you that way. If you call him, you'll keep on clinging to that hope._

_Shut up. No, I won't._

_Yes, you will._

_...I just need some help with picking out clothes, that's all._

_**Gravity of Love**_

_**Chapter 3: Adventures in Summer Volunteering**_

_**Meng**_

_July 4th, 7:02 pm_

"Hello?"

"Aang, I need some help."

"...Meng? Geeze, does anybody say hello anymore?"

The girl sat back on the bed, still staring at her open closet. "Hi. Sorry I couldn't come to the party last night. You and Zuko didn't get caught, did you?"

"...Yeah...we did."

"Aang!" she exclaimed.

"I know, I know. I accidentally sneezed...and well, you know, his hood blew back and..."

"I said you could only go the party if you'd be careful!" She slapped herself in the forehead. What was _Suki _going to say if she found out?

"I _tried_ to be careful, Meng, really!"

She sighed, exasperated, and laid back on the bed. "Aang..."

She could just imagine him raising his eyebrows on the other end of the phone. "Meng? You okay?"

"Yeah…" She rolled over and started playing with the fringe on one of her pillows. "I'm just sort of...worried about you, you know?"

"Worried about me?" Aang's voice sounded incredulous. "Meng, I'm more worried about you by the way you sound. Are you sick? Is that why you weren't at the party last night? What do you need help with?"

Meng sat up. "Well, you know how I'm staying with my aunt this summer?"

"Yeah," Aang replied.

"Well, last night she sort of...signed me up to go to this volunteer group and forgot to tell me."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well...how was it? Was it terrible? Was it boring?"

Meng smiled, crossing her legs. "Well, you would've thought it was boring. We had to sit in this big room and listen to this lady go on and on about stuff."

"Ooh," she could almost hear Aang flinching. "I wouldn't have been able to take that. What was the lady talking about? Like, what do you have to do in this group anyway?"

"Well, there's about eighteen kids, and half of us are able-bodied and the rest are disabled. The lady paired us up sort of randomly and...well...then we go around and do stuff around the city together. Just to gain perspective or something."

"So...it's like a date?"

"What? No! Aang!"

"Sorry, sorry!" He said apologetically. "...Is your partner a girl?"

"No, Aang, but that_ doesn't_ mean it's a date!" Meng rubbed one of her temples in frustration.

"Okay, okay." He chuckled. "Sorry."

"So, I'm calling because I need help with clothes. Is it going to be cold tonight?"

"I don't know, I'll go check the paper," Aang replied. She could hear walking into the kitchen. "Asking help with your clothes, though? This sounds like a date to me. Oh, and it's gonna be warm tonight."

"'Kay, good. And it's not a date."

"_Alright._ By the way, what did you say the group was called?"

"Oh, sorry I didn't mention it. Something corny. What was it...? Right, 'Other Person's Shoes'." She started shuffling through her closet, looking for a good shirt to wear on a warm night.

"…Oh Spirits."

"I know, right? Couldn't they have put a little more effort into the title? Like, something about 'perspective', or-"

"No, no, Meng. I mean...is there a kid there who's...kinda tall, messy brown hair, brown eyes, walks with crutches?"

She fell back onto her bed with a clothes hanger in her hand. "Oh Spirits! You just described the guy I got paired up with. Teo?"

"Yes! Spirits, I _know_ him! We used to hang out all the time before he moved! He's practically a Lemur, you know. He mentioned the group a couple of weeks ago."

"You know him?" Meng felt a huge weight of anxiety lift off her chest. "Is he nice?"

"Well, I'm no girl," Aang replied, "but he's what _you_ would call a sweetheart."

"Really?" She suddenly caught a glance of her old pair of jean overalls. Surely a 'sweetheart' wouldn't mind that?

"Yeah. You know that little girl Hope?"

"The one from the fish market?"

"Yeah, he always brings these little trinkets he makes for her. He loves little kids. You know, now that I know that it's Teo, I think it's even more of a date."

"Will you shut up? I met him once."

"And yet you're meeting him again tonight."

"Because I _have_ to."

"Alright...fine."

Meng held the cellphone to her ear with her shoulder as she changed into her overalls. After a short silence, Aang said, "Is it because you like someone else?"

She blushed at that. "Aang. Stop trying to set me up with my volunteer group partner."

"It _is_ because you like someone else."

She sighed now, frustrated. "You know Aang, just- whatever. I need to go soon anyway. I'm going to meet him at the arcade in ten minutes."

"Alright. Wouldn't want to make you late for-"

"_Goodbye_, Aang." And she closed the phone with a snap, tossing it onto her bed.

She stared as the little screen on the front glowed, adjusting the straps of the overalls. She hoped he didn't take that the wrong way.

Who are you kidding? Aang knows you. He won't take offense to that.

_And anyway,_ the other voice said, _you can't go throwing yourself all over a guy and begging for forgiveness._

I wasn't going to. He's not that kind of guy.

_Right._

_Definitely not the kind of guy you __like.__ You're still blushing by the way._

Meng looked at the mirror.

…Damn it.

She huffed, picked up her cell phone and left her room.

_July 4th, 7:14 pm_

"Meng, over here!"

She saw a grinning face through the crowd, but more drawing than that was the giant crutch being waved in the air. She grinned to herself and remembered what Aang had said: _He's practically a Lemur, you know._

"Hey!" she said as greeting as she finally managed to squeeze through the crowd. She took a good look at him as he leaned against one of the pillars that made up the entrance to the arcade. Teo stood at least a good head above her, and his toothy grin was contagious.

"So, what is it that we're going to do exactly?" Meng pulled out a folded sheet of paper from her overall pocket. "I brought this little sheet that we're supposed to fill in."

Teo's grin immediately faded. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." But he smiled, "I just kept thinking it was meeting a new friend, as corny as that sounds. We have to talk about what we did and how it 'helped our perspective', right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, we haven't done anything yet! Come on, there's a new game I want to try in here," Teo said, turning towards the door.

Meng smiled, and tucked the sheet back into her pocket. "Alright."

She followed behind as Teo swung into the arcade and continued across the floor to whatever game it was he wanted to play. People moved out of their way and others turned to look. Meng glanced around at their faces as she followed behind, then jogged a little to walk at Teo's side.

"Doesn't all that staring bother you?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he turned to look at her. "Nah, not anymore."

He finally stopped next to a machine where a small crowd had gathered. It looked like a two-person Dance Dance Revolution machine; only the floor tiles for the right-hand screen were blank. The crowd watched as a couple stood up onto the raised platform and put a couple of quarters into the slot.

The girl took the right and the boy the left. As Meng watched them choosing a song, she understood. The left side, the only side with the arrows was for dancing. The right was for singing. A Dance Dance Revolution-Karaoke machine. She smiled. _Who comes up with this stuff?_

"You want to play this?" She asked the taller teenager.

He nodded. "Yup."

"You sing?"

"No, do you?"

She blinked. "You mean..._you're_ going to dance?"

Teo shrugged. "'Course."

"He's done it before," a voice interrupted.

Meng and Teo turned to see Aang walking towards them. Meng felt her cheeks burning, in what she decided was anger.

"Aang, what are you doing here?" she whispered at him.

"I'm here to check up on you on your date," he replied, quietly enough that only she heard him.

"It is _not_ a-"

"So!" Aang said, peering over her head at Teo. "You're finally going to try it out, Teo?"

He peered down at Meng. "Well, if you don't want to..."

"…No, I mean," she turned to Aang, "he's really done it before? On crutches?"

Aang only nodded before pushing her up onto the platform. The other couple had finished and Teo had swung up onto the floor tiles, positioning his crutches on the arrows. The crowd started mumbling to each other as Meng took the right side of the platform and picked up the microphone from the other girl.

Teo pressed one of the buttons with a crutch, passing through all of the songs. "You ready?"

She smiled nervously. "As I'll ever be."

_July 4th, 8:09 pm_

"You know, I don't understand why you wanted to get out of there so quickly. We were doing so well!"

"I know, but...we had played long enough, right?" Meng said the first excuse that came to mind.

Teo grinned sheepishly as he swung forward on his crutches. "Yeah, I guess."

Meng fiddled with one of her braided pigtails. "Look, Teo. If you want to go back and play some more-"

He stopped. For a second, she thought he had seen something up ahead on the sidewalk and craned to see it. But then she realized he was staring at her.

She met his inspective gaze hesitantly, and felt her cheeks heat up as passing people started staring at them.

"Why do you sound so upset? I'm fine with going home right now. What's up?" he asked. They started walking again.

"I'm not sure I'd rather talk about it here," she replied.

He nodded in understanding.

They walked along in silence for a while, and Meng preoccupied herself by staring at the green neon signs that decorated the buildings of the Eastern Region. After about ten minutes, she started to feel uneasy watching them.

"Uh, Teo?"

"Yeah?"

She looked around as, sure enough, the green signs steadily disappeared and were replaced with reds and oranges. "You sure you know where you're going?"

He blinked. "'Course." He followed her gaze to the signs up above. "Did I forget to mention I live here?"

Her eyes widened. "Here? In the West?"

Teo closed his eyes and grinned. "I guess I didn't tell you, huh?"

"But, why? Aang told me you were practically a Lemur. He told me you moved, but he never said where."

"That's true, I was practically a lemur. I still hand out with Lemurs all the time," Teo said as he turned a corner on the sidewalk. "But my dad moved here to work for the Dai Le Corp."

They turned again into a complex filled with small houses. "Your dad works for the Dai Le Corporation? What does he do?" Meng asked.

They walked up a small ramp built into the front yard of one of the houses. They stopped in front of the door as Teo fumbled in his pockets for the key. "He's sort of a mechanist. He develops new technology for the hospitals and doctors' offices. They use his machines to do check-ups and treatments and that sort of thing."

Meng was about to say something, when they both walked into the house and immediately shivered. "Huh, my dad must've left the air conditioning on or something. He'll be at work by now," Teo explained.

Meng slipped out of her shoes as Teo opened a nearby closet. He tossed her a flashlight and started walking down the hallway. "My dad has sort of...experimented with the air conditioning and stuff in the house. So all the controls are in the basement."

As she followed behind him, Meng asked, "So...Teo, how'd you learn to dance DDR with your crutches?"

"The same way everyone does: I saw somebody play one day and I tried. Then I kept practicing." He smiled at her over his shoulder. "Just because I can't use my legs doesn't mean I don't have other ways of walking right?"

He opened a door in about the middle of the hallway. Meng stared curiously into the small room: it looked like an oddly large, empty closet with no shelves or boxes. Teo smiled at her confused expression, stepped into the room, and turned back around to face her. "Elevator," he said as explanation.

She followed him in, and saw the little panel of buttons: 1, 2, B, Close Doors, Open Doors. She couldn't help smiling. "A mini-elevator, in your house?"

"Yeah, my dad sort of made it for me, but he uses it all the time too. So I made him promise to always take the stairs in whatever other buildings he goes into." Teo pressed the B button and the Close Doors button. Two panels made of thin metal slid closed in front of the doorway. The little room shuddered and started downward.

"So Meng, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"You and Aang. Were you...dating or something?"

"...WHAT?!"

Teo flinched as Meng started to blush. He knew immediately he had guessed incorrectly.

"It's just...when he showed up at the arcade tonight, you seemed...I don't know," he waved his hand in circles as he searched for a reasonable explanation, "seemed like you guys had broken up recently or something."

The elevator came to a stop and the two panels of metal opened. Meng opened the wooden door and held it as Teo walked out into the basement. "We're just friends," she said, looking around at the piles of junk and half-finished machinery. The bare floor was cold through her socks as she followed Teo to the air conditioning control.

"But you want to be more than that," he replied.

She glared daggers at him as Teo stopped next to a rectangular metal box mounted on the wall. He laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, old habits."

Meng huffed, flicking on the lightswitch as Teo swung the lid open. She made sure the light was pointing inside and said, "Your old habit is accusing people that they're in love with their friends?"

"Well..." Teo surveyed the switches and the handwritten note taped to the inside of the door. "Only if I have enough evidence."

"So you're basing this off of _one_ witnessed meeting between the two of us?"

"Yup."

"And, this old habit of yours... Were you, you know, right most of the time?"

He smirked at her over his shoulder.

She sighed. "Who am I kidding, right? He's practically the leader of the Lemurs. And I'm just a Kyoshi. He'll find some amazing airbending girl and forget all about me."

Silence settled over the basement like dust on the chunks of machinery. Teo flipped a switch and turned around slowly. "Don't say that. Aang's not like that."

Meng narrowed her eyes slightly at him. _Something_ wasn't normal here. There was something in his voice, something in him that was...abnormal. It was tingling in her like a low vibration, a kitten's purr, a magnet humming.

"You know, Meng..."

They made eye contact.

He hesitated. "We're friends, right?"

_He hadn't wanted to say that,_ something in her head told her. _He wanted to say something else. Pretend you don't know._

She smiled, nodded. "Of course."

A sound. They both jumped and looked at the pile of metal parts that it had come from.

"You didn't move, did you?" she asked.

"No, but my dad always said there were ghosts down here."

She glared at him. "That's not funny Teo."

"Alright, alright, sorry," he grinned and started his way back to the elevator. "Let's go fill out that sheet for the group. Pretty stupid that they make us do that, though. We're going to talk about it at the next meeting anyway, right?"

"I know," Meng replied as she caught up. "I think they're conspiring with the high schools, making sure we do homework over the break."

"Makes sense," Teo agreed. He stopped and looked into a corner of the basement while Meng went ahead and stepped into the elevator.

"Teo, you coming?" she asked, holding the Doors Open button down.

Silence.

"Meng," he said, barely audible.

She leaned forward. "What're you whispering for-"

"Get upstairs, get out of here, now."

Before she could ask any more questions, a dark shape flung itself at the boy. Both disappeared from her frame of vision in one second.

"_Teo!_" she shouted, surprised, panicked. She leapt out of the elevator, saw one of his crutches on the ground-

Dark. Pain.

She forced her eyes open.

Heat. Smoke. Ache.

She rolled over onto her side. Pain in her ribs.

Teo was sprawled on the floor near her, his arm splayed out at a weird angle towards her.

She grasped his hand. And saw his face, unconscious against the floor. So hurt. So brave he had been. So...

"Teo..."

And the smoke swallowed everything.

* * *

**AN. **1) They're not dead. But that doesn't mean that they're safe. Well...that's pretty much given. 2) Next chapter will feature Sokka! Yay, Sokka! 

I'm sorry if this chapter is terrible. I only really liked writing the ending, and I haven't written for this poor fic since...summer, because of school and the new season. Sorry alert-ers. :(

This chapter dedicated to: **Everybody who is still interested in this fic after the long hiatus. :D**


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